Deontay Wilder charged with marijuana possession

WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has been charged with possession of cannabis.

Tuscaloosa Police in Alabama said he was initially pulled over on Wednesday while driving for a ‘window tint violation’. They then found drugs inside his vehicle.

“Officers obtained verbal consent to search the vehicle and recovered a misdemeanour amount of marijuana from the console,” Tuscaloosa Police said in a statement.

Wilder’s attorney, Paul Patterson, told The Tuscaloosa News that the drugs did not belong to his client and that someone had used the vehicle while Deontay was away.

“Deontay has been out-of-state for several days,” he said.

“He returned home today from Georgia driving his Rolls Royce and selected his Cadillac Escalade from his fleet of vehicles to run errands.”

Wilder was charged by police and released on a bond of $1,000.

Undefeated in 38 professional fights, Wilder has held the WBC title since January 2015 and last defended it in February when he stopped Gerald Washington.

His next fight has not yet been determined, and there is a chance he could fighter either Tony Bellew or Dillian Whyte before the end of the year. There has also been speculation that he could appear on the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor undercard in Las Vegas, though that seems unlikely.

The outspoken American maintains that his goal is to unify the division by fighting WBA and IBF champion Anthony Joshua and WBO king Joseph Parker.